North-West University to Fully Fund Qualifying Postgraduate Students: Vice-Chancellor Bismark Tyobeka
North-West University Vice-Chancellor Professor Bismark Tyobeka has announced that the university will now provide 100% funding support for qualifying postgraduate students to address the declining uptake of postgraduate studies, following concerns that all 26 public universities in South Africa are seeing low numbers of local students at Master’s and PhD levels.
NWU Tackles National Trend of Declining Local Postgraduate Enrolment
In a bold move to boost postgraduate education, North-West University (NWU) has committed to offering full funding for eligible students pursuing Master’s and PhD degrees. Vice-Chancellor Professor Bismark Tyobeka revealed this initiative amid growing worries about the low participation of South African students in advanced studies across the country’s 26 public universities. A national review by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) between 2020 and 2021 backed these concerns, showing that 56.7% of PhD graduates are international students, leaving local talent underrepresented at higher levels.
Tyobeka explained the reasoning behind the funding boost, linking it to job scarcity and the need to keep young people in education. “The reality of the situation is that the jobs are very scarce. So instead of finishing your honours and go and stay at home looking for a job and finish another 24 months looking for a job, in that 24 months you would have finished your master degree and you would have started your first year of a PhD so we are saying we are going to up the financial assistance for masters and PhD in particular to cover everything so that if you do not see prospects of a job immediately after you finish your honours or your undergraduate, continue with us,” he said.
He also pointed out demographic issues at NWU and nationwide. “There is a concern that we have fewer postgraduate students, especially at the Master’s, PhD levels. Most of our post-graduate students are either from our Potchefstroom campus, which is mostly white or the black ones that are there mostly are foreign nationals. It is a problem that we see replicated across all 26 public universities in our country and one of the reasons for that is because most of these students, especially black ones, come from very poor families where families expect them to finish school and go and work.”
This funding covers all costs for qualifying students, aiming to remove financial barriers and encourage more locals to pursue advanced degrees. NWU, with its three campuses in Potchefstroom, Mahikeng, and Vanderbijlpark, has over 58,000 students, but only 12% are postgraduates, mirroring the national imbalance where international students dominate PhD programmes.
Student Perspectives: Funding and Employment Pressures Key Barriers
Biochemistry Master’s student at NWU’s Mahikeng Campus, Tsholofelo Moloi, welcomed the move, highlighting how lack of money and the rush to find jobs have held back many aspiring postgraduates. “From my experience and the experience of people that are around me, funding has been an issue. It’s not that we don’t have appetite, most of us are here, we are driven, we are so passionate about what we do and we want to actually go further, but the financial support is not really that conducive for us to be able to get to our PhDs or post-doctoral,” Moloi said.
Her views echo wider challenges in South Africa’s higher education system, where economic pressures push graduates into the workforce early, often from disadvantaged backgrounds. The CHE review noted that while overall enrolment has grown, local students shy away from postgraduate paths due to costs and uncertain job prospects in a tough economy with youth unemployment over 45%.
Post Graduate Day Event Spotlights Research and Global Impact
The announcement came during a Post Graduate Day hosted by NWU in partnership with the official Youth Engagement Group of the G20 (Y20) at the Mahikeng Campus. Themed “Transdisciplinary and Transformative Research, Building Sustainable Futures,” the event brought together young scholars to discuss the role of research in shaping policies for G20 member states. It focused on how findings from postgraduate work can drive sustainable development, innovation, and global problem-solving.
Tyobeka used the platform to stress the importance of increasing local postgraduate numbers, tying it to South Africa’s need for homegrown talent in fields like science, technology, and social sciences. The Y20 partnership highlights NWU’s push for international collaboration, aligning with South Africa’s G20 presidency in 2025, where youth voices on education and research will be key.
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